Globalisation, technological advancement and e-commerce have made fashion more accessible to all. At any time of day, anywhere in the world, anyone with an internet connection can purchase fashion goods online. More fashion brands are emerging than ever before.
These drivers have reshaped Thailand's fashion apparel industry and inspired Thammarat Chokwatana, one of the 17 grandchildren of the founder of consumer goods maker Saha Group, to try his luck in personalised clothing.
Mr Thammarat has a big plan to produce apparel within a range of styles, fabrics, finishes and colours, individually manufactured to the customer's specifications.
He has learned over time that posting products on online channels or websites is not the best way to sales success.
"It is very challenging for us to do business nowadays. We need to dramatically adapt ourselves in order to survive," says Mr Thammarat, 48, president of ICC International, Saha's marketing arm for fashion and cosmetic products.
Mr Thammarat joined Saha Group in 1993 and has never felt the need to work outside the group to gain experience from other organisations.
Thammarat Chokwatana, president of Icc International Plc, the fashion and marketing arm of Saha Group
"One day after finishing my examinations at Assumption University, my father [Boonsith Chokwatana] sent me to train for 2-3 months each at Wacoal women's lingerie and at the cosmetics factory, which produces for Shiseido. Please don't try to ask how I felt during that period," Mr Thammarat says with a smile on his face.
After that he moved to join Arrow, one of the key business pillars under Saha Group, before going to work at Wacoal in New York. It was there that Mr Thammarat feels he learned the most from his life and work experiences, because the Big Apple is a centre of finance and fashion.
"I applied the technical know-how I learned from Wacoal to design BSC, our own fashion brand, to differentiate our products from others and finally establish the brand in the market," Mr Thammarat says.
He always wears the apparel brands under the group and sometimes wears other brands just to feel and learn the difference.
There are close to 80 fashion and cosmetic brands at ICC International Plc.
Mr Thammarat confesses that with the parade of new fashion brands from local and international brands in the Thai market, ICC's offerings look less impressive.
"To survive, we should not put all our eggs in the same basket," he says. ICC is making the shift online, expanding into neighbouring countries and building its own brand for sustainable growth.
The company is overhauling its working system and back office to improve logistics and supply chain, preparing to move the fashion business forward via a digital platform.
"My father and I agree that collecting big data is the priority," Mr Thammarat says. "The company has to put more focus in order to understand consumer insights before fully moving towards online shopping and omni-channel offerings. We're dusting off tailor-made strategies for our fashion products, allowing customers to order any number of shirts at a fixed price, with a guarantee on delivery times. It is my ultimate goal to produce one-of-a-kind shirts made particularly for individual customers."
Tailor-made production inspired Mr Thammarat when he travelled to China and learned how a suit maker in China could adjust to rid itself of inventory.
Mr Thammarat with his father, Boonsith Chokwatana, the chairman of Saha Group.
"That Chinese firm has tailor-made suits with options for buttons, patterns and yarn," he says. "It even allows customers to have their own name or signature embroidered in the suit. I also ordered a suit priced about 10,000 baht and received it within four days."
The new working system Mr Thammarat is trying to implement is about 30% complete. The company expects to be able to start providing tailor-made Arrow products soon.
"We are hopeful that the new production system can be introduced as soon as possible, as my father told me that he wants to make it happen tomorrow, not over the next 3-5 years," Mr Thammarat says.
Apart from developing its own system, the company is also interested in acquiring other firms with good fundamentals and management.
The company is developing its own working process to respond to the digital wave. ICC currently sells products not only through department stores but also at its own stores, online and through other channels such as the Lazada website.
Even though the proliferation of online shopping has led to many department stores shutting down, the company remains resolute, saying the department store model is merely injured but not dead.
"We will apply the Western philosophy of not keeping all our eggs in one basket and diversifying our risks," Mr Thammarat says. "Our products are now sold online, through TV shopping and via partners like Lazada."
Online shopping sales contribute less than 5% of the total, but they represent the fastest-growing channel.
Apart from the digital platform, the company is also considering reducing the number of cosmetic brands, after cosmetic products have remained relatively inactive in terms of sales growth.
As the company's products target middle-income earners, a jarring revelation was that some customers were opting to buy lower-priced cosmetic brands because of economic constraints.
Mr Thammarat says collecting big data will enable ICC International to better understand customers.
Sales of ICC are expected to stay flat this year, but Mr Thammarat hopes that shopping sentiment in fashion will improve in the first quarter of next year.
"Saha Group today is different from in the past, particularly in terms of management and marketing," he says. "Big data will be our most important tool to help us respond to customers' needs faster than other players and maintain our family business sustainably."
